Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I am very proud to rise today to speak about this government’s economic record—our strong economic record—and what we have achieved to keep our country and our economy strong. So I am very pleased to be participating in this MPI today. It is not just the economic changes we have made since being in government but also our commitment to rebuilding. We have seen the massive devastation over the summer with all of these horrendous natural disasters, and we have a strong commitment and a strong plan when it comes to rebuilding, as opposed to the opposition, who do not have a plan when it comes to that.

Essentially, I want to talk about the strength of our economy and what we have currently: the fact that we are in such a good position. The fact is that our nation beat the global recession. We did that due to this government’s strong action in the face of the worldwide economic downturn. It is because of that that we are in this situation. We took that very strong and decisive action in the face of the global financial crisis. In fact, that action has seen us become a standout performer in comparison with other nations. In 2009 the Australian economy grew by 1.3 per cent while the world’s advanced economies contracted by 3.2 per cent.

Of course, that was because of our stimulus measures, and I would like to just revisit some of those measures for the opposition members across the chamber so they can be reminded of the action this government took during the global financial crisis. We took that action, of course, to keep our economy strong and protect jobs and small businesses. Our nation-building economic stimulus plan was targeted to support jobs right throughout Australia by building new projects and facilities. There were also cash payments to low- and middle-income families and additional investments in schools, social housing and local community infrastructure to support growth and, of course, to keep many tradespeople in work. There were also tax breaks for small businesses to help them grow their business, and there was investment in economic infrastructure. As a result of all that, the Australian economy came through the global recession in a much stronger position than any other advanced economy. We were the only major advanced economy to avoid recession, and it is very important to remember that. Remember the action this government took and look at the result of it. I certainly saw firsthand in my electorate, Richmond, the massive impact of the government’s economic stimulus in protecting local jobs. It was vitally important.

Also, of course, since coming to office we have created 700,000 jobs while other advanced economies shed millions of jobs. We have supported small businesses and families, and some of that support for families is vitally important. We, of course, introduced the nation’s first ever Paid Parental Leave scheme; we introduced the childcare rebate; and we are increasing family support by up to $4,000 a year to encourage teenagers aged 16 to 18 to remain in school or at TAFE. So we have had massive support in that increase for families and also massive support so that people can return to the workforce through our Paid Parental Leave and our childcare benefits.

Our public finances are among the strongest in the developed world. Our balance sheet is strong, which is very important, and our trade performance remains strong. In December 2010 we recorded our ninth consecutive monthly trade surplus. We have had the longest run of monthly trade surpluses since the early 1970s. Of course, as we have said, our budget will be back in surplus by 2012-13. We are getting the budget back into surplus because it is the right thing to do in terms of the longer term challenges facing the Australian economy. We are bringing the budget back into surplus so that it is in a position, we hope, to be able to deal with future events like the floods we have had if we do need to deal with devastating natural events similar to the ones we have seen. Of course, when we look overall at all the action that we have taken, it means that so many people have been able to keep and protect their jobs. That is the action we have taken that is vitally important.

Of course, we are very focused on investing in the future. Of the natural disasters that we have experienced of late, the floods particularly are likely to end up being the most costly disaster in Australia’s history. Treasury’s preliminary assessments are that they are likely to lead to a loss of about one-half of a percentage point of GDP. It will have a major impact on exports through the loss of coal production. We also know that agricultural production has been hit hard as the floods have wiped out a very significant part of the food bowl.

The need to rebuild and to put the infrastructure back in place to support the economy does not alleviate the need to address the long-term challenges faced by the Australian economy. We certainly do acknowledge that. Australia’s story right now is the story of a patchwork economy. Even before the floods and the reconstruction effort were required we were expecting to see the re-emergence of labour shortages and bottlenecks. Our challenge remains to create a flexible, high-productivity, low-pollution economy.

Our policy settings are already addressing the challenges through our record investments in training and infrastructure. Education is a principal driver of prosperity; a carbon price will encourage investment in renewable energy; and, really importantly, the National Broadband Network will boost the digital economy and build productivity. The NBN is so vital for our nation’s future, and it is the Gillard government that is committed to making sure that we have a National Broadband Network to address all of those issues.

The government has a commitment to reforming the economy to make it even stronger as we rebuild after all these terrible disasters that we have faced in the recent months. We can just compare that for a minute to the opposition and the way they approach all these issues. They constantly engage in cheap political stunts that have no credibility whatsoever. We know that the opposition’s $11 billion worth of savings that were proposed during the election campaign were found to be fraudulent, and they have no credibility when it comes to making any comments about the budget or about any economic matters at all.

I would now like to turn specifically to the government’s response when it comes to the natural disasters we faced. Our response was very swift, with our disaster recovery payments and our plan to rebuild after the devastation. Our plan is very balanced and very appropriate. The Prime Minister has outlined the one-off temporary levy that will be in place. When we look at what we need to rebuild and at the extent of the devastation, it is estimated that the government will need to invest $5.6 billion in rebuilding. As we have said, we will deliver this funding through the following measures: $2.8 billion in budget savings, $1 billion by delaying some infrastructure projects and $1.8 billion from the temporary levy on people earning over $50,000.

Of course, no levy is payable where the person has an income of $50,000 or less. As we have said, in fact, 60 per cent of taxpayers will pay less than a dollar a week. Those who receive an Australian government disaster recovery payment for a flood event in 2010-11 will be exempt from the levy. When we look at that amount and we look at people’s responses, many people have told me that they do consider it a minor amount when they look at the extent of the devastation, at what is required for rebuilding and at how important it is for our nation’s future.

We have heard so much from the opposition in their political stunts and their whingeing and whining about this. There is a very strong history of levies being used by the Australian government, and I think that for the opposition members we should outline the six that were proposed during the course of the Howard years. There was a levy on superannuation for high-income earners, levies to restructure the milk and sugar industries, a levy to buy back guns in the aftermath of Port Arthur, a levy to help meet the entitlements of former Ansett staff and a proposed levy to help the people of East Timor to rebuild. Then, of course, no-one can forget the Leader of the Opposition’s proposed levy on Australian business to fund his paid parental leave scheme.

If a levy was good enough to pay for the coalition’s election promises last year, and if it was good enough for those six levies to be proposed under the Howard government, we want to know why a levy is not good enough to support rebuilding these regions that have been devastated so much. It is just pure political hypocrisy at its absolute worst. That is all we see time and time again from the opposition—just their pure political hypocrisy.

In the deferral package that they released yesterday they just seem to be chopping and changing all over the shop with the different things they are saying. Part of that does not make any sense at all. In fact, what was most bizarre was the Leader of the Opposition, who, in his election campaign speech, described water as probably the most urgent environmental challenge facing our country. But what did we see yesterday? Yesterday, he proposed to defer water buybacks.

They are all over the shop; they do not know what they are doing with this. When we look at the comparison, it is the government that is in a very strong, committed position to rebuild this country. The Gillard government is focused on doing that. We have had a strong economic record since we came into government, and we are very much focused upon rebuilding for the future of our nation. I will repeat the words of the Treasurer, who spoke earlier. He really summed it up when he said that the Leader of the Opposition is not fit to lead the country in a time of crisis. He is not fit, and does not have the skills or ability to do that.

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